Westside Motorcycle Club, Eugene, Oregon, 1938

This is a clip from an old 8mm movie that these guys shot of stunt action on highway 99 between Eugene and Junction City, Oregon.
Just in case anyone thinks that stunt riding in traffic is a new thing!

This video is copyright Oregon Vintage Motorcyclists, and C.R. Saville.
Mr. Saville is one of the riders in this clip, and he's now almost 100 years old.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• indian
• motorcycle
• stunt
• riders

[GunPowder101]

Can't thank you enough for posting this Caponerd. I guess motorcycles back then were too heavy and not powerful enough to wheelie, it musta been really hard to balance the bike with all that weight. I ride a Kawasaki ZX10R and I wonder what would motorcycles look like a 70 years from now.

GREAT VIDEO

[caponerd]

Those bikes aren't as heavy as modern Harleys and "metric cruisers".

The big ones would just spin the tires, but there were lighter ones that could wheelie just fine.

[boscott270]

i always love stuff like this. Did anyone see that one of the guys in the video is still alive and almost 100 years old. we need an old timer in the club I belong to. pureriderz!

the best motorcycle club in oregon

[caponerd]

Scott, I'm sorry to say that both C.R. Saville and Clyde Blakely have passed away. Mr. Blakely, a couple of years ago, and Mr. Saville last year.

I knew both of them, and they were great guys, and motorcycle enthusiasts to the end.

Mr. Blakely was a long-time member of Oregon Vintage Motorcyclists, which was founded in 1979, and both Mr. Blakely and Mr. Saville were founding members of the old West Side Motorcycle Club, which was the Indian rider's club here in Eugene.

[Stanroc]

Also want to say that in 1948 I went to see a fair in Reading, PA and a woman was riding an old Indian around and around in a barrel. Forget what it was called. Stunt riding was a big thing in those days. They might have been part of Joie Chitwood's Hell Drivers.

[caponerd]

That was the "Wall of Death".

There was a team that used to do the County Fair every year here in Eugene. They ran Indian Scouts because they were better suited for that purpose han the Harley 45's.

One of Joey Chitwood's original motorcycle stunt riders is still around, and living in Portland.

Cliff Majhor is his name. A young guy named Bobby Kneivel saw Cliff jumping a motorcycle up in Montana back in the early 60's. You can guess the rest of that story.

[PatrolmanDark]

Damn hooligans! Scaring decent people on the highways! If this kind of damnfoolishness is allowed to continue, it'll be the downfall of this great nation! And these young whippersnappers today think they invented it....

[1947Chief]

INDIAN MOTORCYCLE - America's finest .....

[KingCastFranconia]

@caponerd That shit it way out of control. I bet many hotshoes today could learn a few things from these cats... my father was BORN in 1938 sheesh.....

[mano199]

lol

[seaweed555]

I have a DVD of there entire reels with the narrative.

[Drino1969]

Love, love, love this footage. Thanks for sharing it!!!

[Nationsnotregimes]

Imagine back then Eugene had NO pot heads, you could leave your door unlocked, and no enemy aliens bring them in the like in the 70's and then telling US that We OWED the Savages. ?

Marxist haters and Patriotards rule there today.

[nickiz1]

hmm..hmmm...doo..

[Wangotango78]

Now there is a sissy bar!! 2:00

[HayseedStalin]

@caponerd Believe it or not, the Wall of Death is not only going strong here in the states. Was in Thailand two years ago and saw a family act running dirt bikes and a compact pickup on a wall of death. In true Thai fashion the rider was holding his 5 year old on his lap while running- I wasn't sure if only the Americans in the crowd were wincing or if everyone got the willies from that!!

[KanzlerM]

@caponerd

Now there's a family that rides "Balls of Steel"